1
|
Pezzotti G, Tsubota Y, Zhu W, Marin E, Masumura T, Kobayashi T, Nakazaki T. Raman Multi-Omic Snapshots of Koshihikari Rice Kernels Reveal Important Molecular Diversities with Potential Benefits in Healthcare. Foods 2023; 12:3771. [PMID: 37893662 PMCID: PMC10606906 DOI: 10.3390/foods12203771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
This study exploits quantitative algorithms of Raman spectroscopy to assess, at the molecular scale, the nutritional quality of individual kernels of the Japanese short-grain rice cultivar Koshihikari in terms of amylose-to-amylopectin ratio, fractions of phenylalanine and tryptophan aromatic amino acid residues, protein-to-carbohydrate ratio, and fractions of protein secondary structures. Statistical assessments on a large number of rice kernels reveal wide distributions of the above nutritional parameters over nominally homogeneous kernel batches. This demonstrates that genetic classifications cannot catch omic fluctuations, which are strongly influenced by a number of extrinsic factors, including the location of individual grass plants within the same rice field and the level of kernel maturation. The possibility of collecting nearly real-time Raman "multi-omic snapshots" of individual rice kernels allows for the automatic (low-cost) differentiation of groups of kernels with restricted nutritional characteristics that could be used in the formulation of functional foods for specific diseases and in positively modulating the intestinal microbiota for protection against bacterial infection and cancer prevention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Pezzotti
- Ceramic Physics Laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Matsugasaki, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan; (Y.T.); (W.Z.)
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Science, Kansai Medical University, 2-5-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka 573-1010, Japan
- Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kamigyo-ku, 465 Kajii-cho, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
- Department of Dental Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
- Department of Molecular Science and Nanosystems, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venice, Italy
| | - Yusuke Tsubota
- Ceramic Physics Laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Matsugasaki, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan; (Y.T.); (W.Z.)
| | - Wenliang Zhu
- Ceramic Physics Laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Matsugasaki, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan; (Y.T.); (W.Z.)
| | - Elia Marin
- Ceramic Physics Laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Matsugasaki, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan; (Y.T.); (W.Z.)
- Department of Dental Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan
| | - Takehiro Masumura
- Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Kyoto Prefectural University, 1-5 Shimogamohangi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8522, Japan;
| | - Takuya Kobayashi
- Department of Medical Chemistry, Kansai Medical University, 2-5-1 Shinmachi, Osaka Prefecture, Hirakata 573-1010, Japan;
| | - Tetsuya Nakazaki
- Experimental Farm, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kizugawa 619-0218, Japan;
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
He GH, Ren BH, Wang S, Liu Y, Lu XB. Sequence Control in Asymmetric Terpolymerizations of meso-Epoxides, CO2, and Phthalic Anhydride: Unprecedented Statistical Ester-Carbonate Distributions. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023:e202304943. [PMID: 37159107 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202304943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2023] [Revised: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The statistical terpolymerization of epoxides, CO2 and cyclic anhydrides remains challenging, mainly because epoxide/CO2 and epoxide/anhydride copolymerizations typically proceed at considerably different rates. Herein, we report the syntheses of novel chiral terpolymers with unprecedented statistical distributions of carbonate and ester units (up to 50% junction units) via the one-pot reaction of cyclohexene oxide, phthalic anhydride, and CO2 under mild conditions using enantiopure bimetallic aluminum-complex-based catalyst systems. Notably, all resulting terpolymers exhibited excellent enantioselectivities (≥96% ee) that were independent of the carbonate-ester distribution. The statistical compositions of the carbonate and ester units in the resulting terpolymers were determined via 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopies. Furthermore, thermal properties were tuned by altering the ester content of the chiral terpolymer without influencing the enantioselective ring-opening step involving the meso-epoxide. This asymmetric terpolymerization methodology is also compatible with a variety of meso-epoxides to afford the corresponding terpolymers with 17%-25% junction units and excellent enantioselectivities (94%-99% ee). The present study is expected to provide new guidelines for preparing a broad range of biodegradable polymers with excellent enantioselectivities and adjustable properties.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guang-Hui He
- Dalian University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, CHINA
| | - Bai-Hao Ren
- Dalian University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, CHINA
| | - Shang Wang
- Dalian University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, CHINA
| | - Ye Liu
- Dalian University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, CHINA
| | - Xiao-Bing Lu
- State Key Laboratory of fine chemicals,Dalian University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of fine chemicals,, 2 Linggong road, 116024, Dalian, CHINA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ford L, Self JL, Wong KK, Hoekstra RM, Tauxe RV, Rose EB, Bruce BB. Power Law for Estimating Underdetection of Foodborne Disease Outbreaks, United States. Emerg Infect Dis 2023; 30:337-340. [PMID: 38270126 PMCID: PMC10826756 DOI: 10.3201/eid3002.230342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2024] Open
Abstract
We fit a power law distribution to US foodborne disease outbreaks to assess underdetection and underreporting. We predicted that 788 fewer than expected small outbreaks were identified annually during 1998-2017 and 365 fewer during 2018-2019, after whole-genome sequencing was implemented. Power law can help assess effectiveness of public health interventions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Karen K. Wong
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Robert V. Tauxe
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Beau B. Bruce
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Velásquez-Zapata V, Palacio-Rúa K, Cano LE, Gaviria-Rivera A. Assessment of genotyping markers in the molecular characterization of a population of clinical isolates of Fusarium in Colombia. Biomedica 2022; 42:18-30. [PMID: 35471167 PMCID: PMC9059811 DOI: 10.7705/biomedica.5869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Fusarium is a very heterogeneous group of fungi, difficult to classify, with a wide range of living styles, acting as saprophytes, parasites of plants, or pathogens for humans and animals. Prevalence of clinical fusariosis and lack of effective treatments have increased the interest in the precise diagnosis, which implies a molecular characterization of Fusarium populations. OBJECTIVE We compared different genotyping markers in their assessment of the genetic variability and molecular identification of clinical isolates of Fusarium. MATERIALS AND METHODS We evaluated the performance of the fingerprinting produced by two random primers: M13, which amplifies a minisatellite sequence, and (GACA)4, which corresponds to a simple repetitive DNA sequence. Using the Hunter Gaston Discriminatory Index (HGDI), an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), and a Mantel test, the resolution of these markers was compared to the reference sequencing-based and PCR genotyping methods. RESULTS The highest HGDI value was associated with the M13 marker followed by (GACA)4. AMOVA and the Mantel tests supported a strong correlation between the M13 classification and the reference method given by the partial sequencing of the transcription elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1-α) and rDNA 28S. CONCLUSION The strong correlation between the M13 classification and the sequencingbased reference together with its higher resolution demonstrates its adequacy for the characterization of Fusarium populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Velásquez-Zapata
- Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA; Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
| | - Katherine Palacio-Rúa
- Laboratorio Integrado de Medicina Especializada, Facultad de Medicina, IPS Universitaria, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
| | - Luz E Cano
- Grupo de Micología Médica y Experimental, Corporación para Investigaciones Biológicas, Medellín, Colombia; Escuela de Microbiología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
| | - Adelaida Gaviria-Rivera
- Escuela de Biociencias, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Xin G, Fan P. Soft Compression for Lossless Image Coding Based on Shape Recognition. Entropy (Basel) 2021; 23:e23121680. [PMID: 34945986 PMCID: PMC8700521 DOI: 10.3390/e23121680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Soft compression is a lossless image compression method that is committed to eliminating coding redundancy and spatial redundancy simultaneously. To do so, it adopts shapes to encode an image. In this paper, we propose a compressible indicator function with regard to images, which gives a threshold of the average number of bits required to represent a location and can be used for illustrating the working principle. We investigate and analyze soft compression for binary image, gray image and multi-component image with specific algorithms and compressible indicator value. In terms of compression ratio, the soft compression algorithm outperforms the popular classical standards PNG and JPEG2000 in lossless image compression. It is expected that the bandwidth and storage space needed when transmitting and storing the same kind of images (such as medical images) can be greatly reduced with applying soft compression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gangtao Xin
- Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
- Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology (BNRist), Beijing 100084, China
| | - Pingyi Fan
- Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
- Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology (BNRist), Beijing 100084, China
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-010-6279-6973
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Abstract
BACKGROUND Of 58 medication adherence group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) published studies, 74% used binary and 26% used continuous GBTM. Few studies provided a rationale for this choice. No medication adherence studies have compared continuous and binary GBTM. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to assess whether continuous versus binary GBTM: (1) impacts adherence trajectory shapes; and (2) results in the differential classification of patients into adherence groups. METHODS Patients were prevalent statin users with myocardial infarction hospitalization, 66+ years old, and continuously enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare. Statin medication adherence was measured 6 months prehospitalization using administrative claims. Final GBTM specifications beyond default settings were selected using a previously defined standardized procedure and applied separately to continuous and binary (proportion of days covered ≥0.80) medication adherence measures. Assignment to adherence groups was compared between continuous and binary models using percent agreement of patient classification and the κ coefficient. RESULTS Among 113,296 prevalent statin users, 4 adherence groups were identified in both models. Three groups were consistent: persistently adherent, progressively nonadherent, and persistently nonadherent. The fourth continuous group was moderately adherent (progressively adherent in the binary model). When comparing patient assignment into adherence groups between continuous and binary trajectory models, only 78.4% of patients were categorized into comparable groups (κ=0.641; 95% confidence interval: 0.638-0.645). The agreement was highest in the persistently adherent group (∼94%). CONCLUSIONS Continuous and binary trajectory models are conceptually different measures of medication adherence. The choice between these approaches should be guided by study objectives and the role of medication adherence within the study-exposure, outcome, or confounder.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ryan P Hickson
- Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Department of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Izabela E Annis
- Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Ley A Killeya-Jones
- Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Gang Fang
- Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Corsaro C, Neri G, Mezzasalma AM, Fazio E. Weibull Modeling of Controlled Drug Release from Ag-PMA Nanosystems. Polymers (Basel) 2021; 13:2897. [PMID: 34502937 DOI: 10.3390/polym13172897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2021] [Revised: 08/21/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Traditional pharmacotherapy suffers from multiple drawbacks that hamper patient treatment such as antibiotic resistances or low drug selectivity and toxicity during systemic applications. Some functional hybrid nanomaterials are designed to handle the drug release process under remote-control. More attention has recently been paid to synthetic polyelectrolytes for their intrinsic properties which allow them to rearrange into compact structures, ideal to be used as drug carriers or probes influencing biochemical processes. The presence of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) in the Poly methyl acrylate (PMA) matrix leads to an enhancement of drug release efficiency, even using a low-power laser whose wavelength is far from the Ag Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) peak. Further, compared to the colloids, the nanofiber-based drug delivery system has shown shorter response time and more precise control over the release rate. The efficiency and timing of involved drug release mechanisms has been estimated by the Weibull distribution function, whose parameters indicate that the release mechanism of nanofibers obeys Fick's first law while a non-Fickian character controlled by diffusion and relaxation of polymer chains occurs in the colloidal phase.
Collapse
|
8
|
Araujo BLDC, de Melo AC, Santos Thuler LC. Importance of pain score distribution to interpretation of the minimal clinically important difference. Br J Anaesth 2021; 127:e121-e123. [PMID: 34303490 DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2021.06.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Revised: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Andreia C de Melo
- Clinical Research Division, National Cancer Institute of Brazil (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Luiz C Santos Thuler
- Clinical Research Division, National Cancer Institute of Brazil (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Neurology Post Graduation Program, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Tarima S, Flournoy N. Choosing Interim Sample Sizes in Group Sequential Designs. Stud Health Technol Inform 2021; 278:11-16. [PMID: 34042870 DOI: 10.3233/shti210043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2023]
Abstract
This manuscript investigates sample sizes for interim analyses in group sequential designs. Traditional group sequential designs (GSD) rely on "information fraction" arguments to define the interim sample sizes. Then, interim maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) are used to decide whether to stop early or continue the data collection until the next interim analysis. The possibility of early stopping changes the distribution of interim and final MLEs: possible interim decisions on trial stopping excludes some sample space elements. At each interim analysis the distribution of an interim MLE is a mixture of truncated and untruncated distributions. The distributional form of an MLE becomes more and more complicated with each additional interim analysis. Test statistics that are asymptotically normal without a possibly of early stopping, become mixtures of truncated normal distributions under local alternatives. Stage-specific information ratios are equivalent to sample size ratios for independent and identically distributed data. This equivalence is used to justify interim sample sizes in GSDs. Because stage-specific information ratios derived from normally distributed data differ from those derived from non-normally distributed data, the former equivalence is invalid when there is a possibility of early stopping. Tarima and Flournoy [3] have proposed a new GSD where interim sample sizes are determined by a pre-defined sequence of ordered alternative hypotheses, and the calculation of information fractions is not needed. This innovation allows researchers to prescribe interim analyses based on desired power properties. This work compares interim power properties of a classical one-sided three stage Pocock design with a one-sided three stage design driven by three ordered alternatives.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sergey Tarima
- Division of Biostatistics, Medical College of Wisconsin,
| | - Nancy Flournoy
- Department of Statistics, University of Missouri-Columbia,
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Martínez JW, Martínez JC, Rincón DA, Salazar DA, Castrillón JD, Gómez MDP, Suárez OF, Vélez JP, Valencia ÁM, Gómez S, Rincón ÁM, Idrovo ÁJ, Moreno-Montoya J, Prieto-Alvarado FE, Hurtado-Ortiz A. Benchmarking of public health surveillance of COVID-19 in Colombia: First semester. Biomedica 2020; 40:198-204. [PMID: 33152204 PMCID: PMC7676834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jose William Martínez
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Sandra Gómez
- Dirección Operativa de Salud Pública de Risaralda, Pereira, Colombia.
| | | | - Álvaro J Idrovo
- Departamento de Salud Pública, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
| | - José Moreno-Montoya
- Subdirección de Estudios Clínicos, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.
| | - Franklyn E Prieto-Alvarado
- Dirección de Vigilancia y Análisis del Riesgo en Salud Pública, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.
| | - Alexandra Hurtado-Ortiz
- Departamento de Salud Pública, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Hurtado-Ortiz A, Moreno-Montoya J, Prieto-Alvarado FE, Idrovo ÁJ. Benchmarking of public health surveillance of COVID-19 in Colombia: First semester. Biomedica 2020; 40:131-138. [PMID: 33152196 PMCID: PMC7676826 DOI: 10.7705/biomedica.5812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Public health surveillance together with good sanitary decisions is essential for the proper management of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Objective: To compare the performance of Colombian departments based on the quality of the data and to build the national ranking. Materials and methods: We analyzed the accumulated cases published between March 6 and September 1, 2020, by the Instituto Nacional de Salud. To achieve comparability, the analyses considered the day the first case was diagnosed as the first analysis date for each department. The fulfillment of Benford’s law was assessed with p-values in the log-likelihood ratio or chi-square tests. The analysis was completed with the lethality observed in each department and then the performance ranking was established. Results: Bogotá and Valle del Cauca had optimal public health surveillance performance all along. The data suggest that Antioquia, Nariño, and Tolima had good containment and adequate public health surveillance after the economic opening beginning on June 1, 2020. Conclusion: We obtained the ranking of the departments regarding the quality of public health surveillance data. The best five departments can be case studies to identify the elements associated with good performance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Hurtado-Ortiz
- Departamento de Salud Pública, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
| | - José Moreno-Montoya
- Subdirección de Estudios Clínicos, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.
| | - Franklyn E Prieto-Alvarado
- Dirección de Vigilancia y Análisis del Riesgo en Salud Pública, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.
| | - Álvaro J Idrovo
- Departamento de Salud Pública, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Kovács R, Scarfone AM, Abe S. Entropy and Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics. Entropy (Basel) 2020; 22:E507. [PMID: 33286279 DOI: 10.3390/e22050507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
|
13
|
Hickson RP, Annis IE, Killeya-Jones LA, Fang G. Opening the black box of the group-based trajectory modeling process to analyze medication adherence patterns: An example using real-world statin adherence data. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2019; 29:357-362. [PMID: 31802581 DOI: 10.1002/pds.4917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The rationale for choosing a final group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) specification and evaluations of patient adherence patterns within groups are often omitted in the GBTM medication adherence literature. We aimed to (1) reveal the complexity of GBTM and (2) assess model discrimination of patient medication adherence patterns. METHODS Medicare administrative claims were used to measure statin medication adherence as a continuous value in the 6 months before an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospitalization. Different GBTM specifications beyond default settings were constructed and compared with the Bayesian information criterion. Spaghetti plots were used to compare individual adherence patterns with group averages. RESULTS Overall, 113,296 prevalent statin users met eligibility criteria. Four adherence groups were identified: persistently adherent, moderately adherent, progressively nonadherent, and persistently nonadherent. Spaghetti plots showed the persistently adherent and persistently nonadherent groups had relatively homogeneous adherence patterns that matched predicted trajectories well. Spaghetti plots also showed that, while adherence patterns in the progressively nonadherent group were not as homogeneous, most patients in this group appeared to be discontinuing statin therapy pre-AMI. CONCLUSIONS Subjective decisions are necessary to identify a final trajectory model. Greater transparency and disclosure of these decisions in the medication adherence literature are needed. Individual patient adherence patterns from spaghetti plots provided additional diagnostic information about trajectory models beyond standard model-fit assessments to determine if group-average adherence estimates represent homogeneous patterns of medication adherence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ryan P Hickson
- Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Izabela E Annis
- Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Ley A Killeya-Jones
- Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Gang Fang
- Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Vandamme LKJ, Wouters PAAF, Slooter GD, de Hingh IHJT. Cancer Survival Data Representation for Improved Parametric and Dynamic Lifetime Analysis. Healthcare (Basel) 2019; 7:healthcare7040123. [PMID: 31661787 PMCID: PMC6955760 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare7040123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2019] [Revised: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 10/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Survival functions are often characterized by a median survival time or a 5-year survival. Whether or not such representation is sufficient depends on tumour development. Different tumour stages have different mean survival times after therapy. The validity of an exponential decay and the origins of deviations are substantiated. The paper shows, that representation of survival data as logarithmic functions visualizes differences better, which allows for differentiating short- and long-term dynamic lifetime. It is more instructive to represent the changing lifetime expectancy for an individual who has survived a certain time, which can be significantly different from the initial expectation just after treatment. Survival data from 15 publications on cancer are compared and re-analysed based on the well-established: (i) exponential decay (ii) piecewise constant hazard (iii) Weibull model and our proposed parametric survival models, (iv) the two-τ and (v) the sliding-τ model. The new models describe either accelerated aging or filtering out of defects with numerical parameters with a physical meaning and add information to the usually provided log-rank P-value or median survival. The statistical inhomogeneity in a group by mixing up different tumour stages, metastases and treatments is the main origin for deviations from the exponential decay.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lode K J Vandamme
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
| | - Peter A A F Wouters
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
| | - Gerrit D Slooter
- Department of Surgical Oncology, Máxima Medical Center, 5504DB Veldhoven, The Netherlands.
| | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Lutz NW, Bernard M. A method for multiparametric statistical quantification of the heterogeneity of free Na + concentration by 19 F MR spectroscopy: Proof of principle in silico and in vitro. NMR Biomed 2019; 32:e4117. [PMID: 31297903 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2018] [Revised: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Sodium(I) (Na+ ) is one of the most important cations in mammalian tissues. Since Na+ plays a key role in basic cell function, noninvasive methods for measuring intracellular concentrations of free sodium ions in biological tissue have been developed on the basis of 19 F NMR spectroscopy. However, intracellular Na+ levels are often not uniform throughout a tissue volume (or voxel) being measured. In such cases, [Na+ ] heterogeneity is not reflected in results obtained by the classical technique, and may even result in biased average values. For this reason, we have designed an approach for quantifying [Na+ ] heterogeneity. First, the 19 F MRS resonance from FCrown-1 serving as a "Na+ probe" is transformed into a [Na+ ] curve. Then the digital points of the resulting [Na+ ] profile are used to construct a histogram with specially developed algorithms. From each [Na+ ] histogram, at least eight quantitative parameters describing the underlying statistical [Na+ ] distribution were computed: weighted median, weighted mean, standard deviation, range, mode(s), kurtosis, skewness, and entropy. In addition to our new paradigm, we present a first validation based on (i) computer simulations and (ii) experimentally obtained 19 F MR spectra of model solutions. This basic proof of principle warrants future in vivo experiments, in particular because of its ability to provide quantitative information complementary to that made available by commonly used 23 Na MRI: (i) multiparametric statistical characterization of [Na+ ] distributions; (ii) total [Na+ ] heterogeneity analysis not intrinsically limited by the size of any MRI voxels; and (iii) analysis of unequivocally intracellular [Na+ ], as opposed to measurement of a combination of intra- and extracellular [Na+ ].
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Norbert W Lutz
- School of Medicine, CRMBM, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Monique Bernard
- School of Medicine, CRMBM, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Dutta S, Biswas A, Ahrens J. Multivariate Pointwise Information-Driven Data Sampling and Visualization. Entropy (Basel) 2019; 21:e21070699. [PMID: 33267413 PMCID: PMC7515213 DOI: 10.3390/e21070699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 07/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
With increasing computing capabilities of modern supercomputers, the size of the data generated from the scientific simulations is growing rapidly. As a result, application scientists need effective data summarization techniques that can reduce large-scale multivariate spatiotemporal data sets while preserving the important data properties so that the reduced data can answer domain-specific queries involving multiple variables with sufficient accuracy. While analyzing complex scientific events, domain experts often analyze and visualize two or more variables together to obtain a better understanding of the characteristics of the data features. Therefore, data summarization techniques are required to analyze multi-variable relationships in detail and then perform data reduction such that the important features involving multiple variables are preserved in the reduced data. To achieve this, in this work, we propose a data sub-sampling algorithm for performing statistical data summarization that leverages pointwise information theoretic measures to quantify the statistical association of data points considering multiple variables and generates a sub-sampled data that preserves the statistical association among multi-variables. Using such reduced sampled data, we show that multivariate feature query and analysis can be done effectively. The efficacy of the proposed multivariate association driven sampling algorithm is presented by applying it on several scientific data sets.
Collapse
|
17
|
Dietz P, Iberl B, Schuett E, van Poppel M, Ulrich R, Sattler MC. Prevalence Estimates for Pharmacological Neuroenhancement in Austrian University Students: Its Relation to Health-Related Risk Attitude and the Framing Effect of Caffeine Tablets. Front Pharmacol 2018; 9:494. [PMID: 29946254 PMCID: PMC6006370 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2017] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Pharmacological neuroenhancement (PN) is defined as the use of illicit or prescription drugs by healthy individuals for cognitive-enhancing purposes. The present study aimed (i) to investigate whether including caffeine tablets in the definition of PN within a questionnaire increases the PN prevalence estimate (framing effect), (ii) to investigate whether the health-related risk attitude is increased in students who use PN. Materials and methods: Two versions of a paper-and-pencil questionnaire (first version included caffeine tablets in the definition of PN, the second excluded caffeine tablets) were distributed among university students at the University of Graz, Austria. The unrelated question model (UQM) was used to estimate the 12-month PN prevalence and the German version of the 30-item Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) scale to assess the health-related risk attitude. Moreover, large-sample z-tests (α = 0.05) were performed for comparing the PN prevalence estimates of two groups. Results: Two thousand four hundred and eighty-nine questionnaires were distributed and 2,284 (91.8%) questionnaires were included in analysis. The overall PN prevalence estimate for all students was 11.9%. One-tailed large-sample z-tests revealed that the PN estimate for students with higher health-related risk attitude was significantly higher compared to students with lower health-related risk attitude (15.6 vs. 8.5%; z = 2.65, p = 0.004). Furthermore, when caffeine tablets were included into the example of PN, the prevalence estimate of PN was significantly higher compared to the version without caffeine tablets (14.9 vs. 9.0%; z = 2.20, p = 0.014). Discussion: This study revealed that the PN prevalence estimate increases when caffeine tablets are included in the definition of PN. Therefore, future studies investigating the prevalence of, and predictors for, PN should be performed and interpreted with respect to potential framing effects. This study further revealed that the PN prevalence estimate is increased in students with a higher health-related risk attitude compared to students with a lower one. Therefore, future education and prevention programs addressing PN in the collective of students should not only inform about potential side effects of its use but also address the limited effects on cognition and potential alternatives of PN.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pavel Dietz
- Research Group of Physical Activity and Public Health, Institute of Sports Science, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Working Group Social and Health Sciences of Sport, Institute for Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Benedikt Iberl
- Research Group of Cognition and Perception, Institute of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Emanuel Schuett
- Research Group of Cognition and Perception, Institute of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Mireille van Poppel
- Research Group of Physical Activity and Public Health, Institute of Sports Science, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Working Group Social and Health Sciences of Sport, Institute for Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Rolf Ulrich
- Research Group of Cognition and Perception, Institute of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Matteo Christian Sattler
- Research Group of Physical Activity and Public Health, Institute of Sports Science, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Working Group Social and Health Sciences of Sport, Institute for Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Abstract
Bayesian analysis is firmly grounded in the science of probability and has been increasingly supplementing or replacing traditional approaches based on P values. In this review, we present gradually more complex examples, along with programming code and data sets, to show how Bayesian analysis takes evidence from randomized clinical trials to update what is already known about specific treatments in cardiovascular medicine. In the example of revascularization choices for diabetic patients who have multivessel coronary artery disease, we combine the results of the FREEDOM trial (Future Revascularization Evaluation in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: Optimal Management of Multivessel Disease) with prior probability distributions to show how strongly we should believe in the new Class I recommendation ("should be done") for a preference of bypass surgery over percutaneous coronary intervention. In the debate about the duration of dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent implantation, we avoid a common pitfall in traditional meta-analysis and create a network of randomized clinical trials to compare outcomes after specific treatment durations. Although we find no credible increase in mortality, we affirm the tradeoff between increased bleeding and reduced myocardial infarctions with prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy, findings that support the new Class IIb recommendation ("may be considered") to extend dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent implantation. In the decision between culprit artery-only and multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, we use hierarchical meta-analysis to analyze evidence from observational studies and randomized clinical trials and find that the probability of all-cause mortality at longest follow-up is similar after both strategies, a finding that challenges the older ban against noninfarct-artery intervention during primary percutaneous coronary intervention. These examples illustrate how Bayesian analysis integrates new trial information with existing knowledge to reduce uncertainty and change attitudes about treatments in cardiovascular medicine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John A Bittl
- From the Munroe Regional Medical Center, Ocala, FL (J.A.B.); and Division of Research and Methodology, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, MD (Y.H.).
| | - Yulei He
- From the Munroe Regional Medical Center, Ocala, FL (J.A.B.); and Division of Research and Methodology, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, MD (Y.H.)
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Gómez-Camponovo M, Moreno J, Idrovo ÁJ, Páez M, Achkar M. [Monitoring the Paraguayan epidemiological dengue surveillance system (2009-2011) using Benford's law]. Biomedica 2016; 36:583-92. [PMID: 27992985 DOI: 10.7705/biomedica.v36i4.2731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2015] [Revised: 04/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Dengue is the most widespread arbovirus worldwide. In Paraguay, it reappeared in 1988-1989, with one of the largest epidemic outbreaks occurring in 2011. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance of the dengue epidemiological surveillance system in Paraguay between 2009 and 2011. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted an ecological study with secondary epidemiological surveillance data. We analyzed notified cases of the disease based on the distribution expected by Benford's law. To this end, we used the first and second digits from the global records stratified by region, season, population density, indicators of housing conditions and heads of cattle. RESULTS The epidemiological surveillance system performed better during non-epidemic periods and in the states with better housing conditions and fewer heads of cattle. CONCLUSION Given that a difference in the performance existed, we recommended that the system remains operating at the same high alert level even during periods when fewer cases are expected. The technology used by the method proposed to monitor the notification of cases is easy to transfer to operational staff.
Collapse
|
20
|
Zhu F, Liu Q, Zhang X, Shen B. Protein interaction network constructing based on text mining and reinforcement learning with application to prostate cancer. IET Syst Biol 2015; 9:106-12. [PMID: 26243825 PMCID: PMC8687258 DOI: 10.1049/iet-syb.2014.0050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2014] [Revised: 03/19/2015] [Accepted: 03/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Constructing interaction network from biomedical texts is a very important and interesting work. The authors take advantage of text mining and reinforcement learning approaches to establish protein interaction network. Considering the high computational efficiency of co-occurrence-based interaction extraction approaches and high precision of linguistic patterns approaches, the authors propose an interaction extracting algorithm where they utilise frequently used linguistic patterns to extract the interactions from texts and then find out interactions from extended unprocessed texts under the basic idea of co-occurrence approach, meanwhile they discount the interaction extracted from extended texts. They put forward a reinforcement learning-based algorithm to establish a protein interaction network, where nodes represent proteins and edges denote interactions. During the evolutionary process, a node selects another node and the attained reward determines which predicted interaction should be reinforced. The topology of the network is updated by the agent until an optimal network is formed. They used texts downloaded from PubMed to construct a prostate cancer protein interaction network by the proposed methods. The results show that their method brought out pretty good matching rate. Network topology analysis results also demonstrate that the curves of node degree distribution, node degree probability and probability distribution of constructed network accord with those of the scale-free network well.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fei Zhu
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Novel Software Technology and Industrialization, People's Republic of China.
| | - Quan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Symbolic Computation and Knowledge Engineering of Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaofang Zhang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, People's Republic of China
| | - Bairong Shen
- Center for Systems Biology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Affiliation(s)
- Cyril Perret
- CeRCA, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unités Mixtes de Recherche 7295, Université de Poitiers Poitiers, France
| | - Sonia Kandel
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unités Mixtes de Recherche 5105, Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble, France
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Abstract
Criteria for peripheral smear review are designed to include those samples with results outside the reference interval and can be more extreme based on what is considered to have clinical utility. However, we are unaware of previous studies that reported the distributions of various complete blood cell count (CBC) parameters in infants. In the following study we reviewed screening CBC results of 692 infants aged 9-15 months in order to determine the proportion of peripheral smear reviews recommended according to consensus criteria and that after adjusting for the observed distributions of the various parameters. According to consensus criteria the recommended reflex peripheral smear review rate was 39.7% (95% CI 36.1-43.4) whereas after adjustment for the observed distributions, the rate fell to 5.6% (95% CI 3.9-7.3) (p < 0.001). The major reasons for the difference in rates were the high proportion of infants with an absolute lymphocyte count > 7 × 10(9)/L (17.5%), the presence of a plus one blast flag (4.3%), and a large unstained cell count of ≥ 5% (26.2%) (equivalent to + 1 atypical flag). We found that international consensus criteria for reflex peripheral smear review results in a very high peripheral smear review rate in well infants, and might be inappropriate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Froom
- Regional Laboratory, Haifa and Western Galilee, Clalit Health Services , Nesher
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
23
|
Goedhart PW, van der Voet H, Baldacchino F, Arpaia S. A statistical simulation model for field testing of non-target organisms in environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants. Ecol Evol 2014; 4:1267-83. [PMID: 24834325 PMCID: PMC4020688 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2013] [Revised: 02/04/2014] [Accepted: 02/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetic modification of plants may result in unintended effects causing potentially adverse effects on the environment. A comparative safety assessment is therefore required by authorities, such as the European Food Safety Authority, in which the genetically modified plant is compared with its conventional counterpart. Part of the environmental risk assessment is a comparative field experiment in which the effect on non-target organisms is compared. Statistical analysis of such trials come in two flavors: difference testing and equivalence testing. It is important to know the statistical properties of these, for example, the power to detect environmental change of a given magnitude, before the start of an experiment. Such prospective power analysis can best be studied by means of a statistical simulation model. This paper describes a general framework for simulating data typically encountered in environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants. The simulation model, available as Supplementary Material, can be used to generate count data having different statistical distributions possibly with excess-zeros. In addition the model employs completely randomized or randomized block experiments, can be used to simulate single or multiple trials across environments, enables genotype by environment interaction by adding random variety effects, and finally includes repeated measures in time following a constant, linear or quadratic pattern in time possibly with some form of autocorrelation. The model also allows to add a set of reference varieties to the GM plants and its comparator to assess the natural variation which can then be used to set limits of concern for equivalence testing. The different count distributions are described in some detail and some examples of how to use the simulation model to study various aspects, including a prospective power analysis, are provided.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul W Goedhart
- Biometris, Plant Research International, Wageningen University and Research Centre P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Hilko van der Voet
- Biometris, Plant Research International, Wageningen University and Research Centre P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ferdinando Baldacchino
- ENEA: National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Centro Ricerche Trisaia S.S. 106 Ionica, 75026, Rotondella, Italy
| | - Salvatore Arpaia
- ENEA: National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Centro Ricerche Trisaia S.S. 106 Ionica, 75026, Rotondella, Italy
| |
Collapse
|